It’s 21 days until the first day of Spring, from today until March 20 we will gain 1 hour and 9 minutes of day light, you gotta love that. More than warm temperatures and nice days it’s that increased day length will make things happen in the bird world. Many of our summer species have already started the trek back to the nesting grounds, Tree Swallows are usually back in New Brunswick by mid-April. It’s the time of year when people should be thinking of placing a few new bird houses and making sure last years nests (birds and bees) are cleaned out of your existing houses. Birds will nest on top of old nests as long as there is room below the hole, but the life cycle of parasites coincides with the next years nesting, it’s best to clean them out so they don’t hatch out and infest the new nestlings.
There’s still time to place the new houses, but if you want to build them yourself, you should at least get the wood and have it drying. The best houses are made of rough sawn lumber and that is sometimes hard to find, especially dry. If you use wood that is green or too wet, the boards will shrink and crack. Also, let the boards dry before cutting them to size, they all crack a few inches from the end and since most houses are only 12 inches high, they tend to fall apart.
If you didn’t catch my advice last fall about getting your posts in the ground, you should also get ready when the ground thaws, or scope out existing posts, light poles or the backs of buildings. Bird houses in trees tend to be occupied by squirrels, so try to get them a few feet from the woods. They don’t have to be too high, 4-6 feet is enough, a 2x4 securely screwed to a shorter fence post will make a good extension if you need more height, after all you want to be able to see them coming and going.
The three most common local species are Tree Swallow, Black-capped Chickadee and Eastern Bluebird, luckily they all like the same size house. You can make various shapes and designs as long as you stick to a few basics. The inside dimensions should be 4x4 inches, the box should be around 12 inches high with a 1 ½ inch hole 8 inches off the floor, there should be drain holes in the floor, vent holes under the eve, and you’ll have better luck with a house that’s designed to be screwed securely to a post rather that hanging, after that it’s up to your imagination. The materials to make a good one size fits all house cost just over $1.00 so it’s a great inexpensive project to get the family or even the whole neighbourhood involved in.
The Tree Swallow is the most likely bird you’ll see using your bird house, they are very obvious, they perch on the roof and sing and defend their territory from other swallows and even other species. When a predator comes into the yard they become quite loud and aggressive, even dive bombing squirrels and cats. I haven’t had the Tree Swallow be aggressive towards people, but they seem to get to know the land lords allowing me close observations but will fly around twittering if a stranger gets too close. It’s common to see the adults sitting with there head out the hole surveying the area and waiting for the mate to return, then they leave the hole just before the mate flies in with food. When the nestlings are old enough to climb up to the hole, the adults will feed the young while clinging to the outside of the hole. Tree Swallows have a hundred foot territory, so it’s more likely to have several nests in your yard or neighbourhood.
In contrast, the Chickadee is very secretive about their nest choice. I’ve had nests without even knowing it, finding the inch of moss in the bottom of the house when I inspect them later in the fall. You have to watch carefully to see the Chickadee sneak back to the house and fly directly in without pause. The Chickadee also has a much larger territory at 10 acres, so if your neighbour has a nest, it’s unlikely you’ll get one.
The Eastern Bluebird in making a come back, now that the House Sparrow isn’t so prevalent. Those who are lucky enough to attract Bluebirds swear they come to the window of the house and signal that the meal worm feeder is empty. Something I’d like to witness, we’ve had males and females in our yard checking out the houses, just never at the same time. It’ll come though, as the Bluebird flies, we’re quite close to Dawson Settlement aka Bluebird Central.
Without human intervention these birds, known as secondary cavity dwellers, would rely on old woodpecker cavities, but for various reasons these old dead trees have to be removed, leaving a shortage of nesting sites for these beauties. Our woodpeckers, known as primary cavity dwellers, make a new nest each year. It’s there way to show a prospective mate how worthy they are, as Red Green says, “If the women don’t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.” Even though all our woodpecker males are very handsome, it never hurts. If you want woodpeckers to nest in your houses you’ll have to pack it tightly with course saw dust so the men will be able to show off their skills. The Downy Woodpecker would use the same size house and the 3 mentioned species and for the larger species the saw dust will keep the dreaded European Starling from using the house until a woodpecker finds it.
Written by Dwayne Biggar at The Bird Garden
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